


two detectives and a stray

by CodebreakerAlexManes



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Detroit: Evolution
Genre: :), And he'll get them, Chapter Four is coming but I've had some plot ideas and will be re-working the first three chapters, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gavin actually has two cats, Gavin is the reluctant father, Gavin: a child, Hurt/Comfort, I forgot how old Lazzo canonically is so I am making him a teenager, I just moved to Georgia, I love him and he isn't appreciated enough, I'm just gonna beat Lazzo up and then give him a family, I'm not actually dead, In which I decide that Lazzo can get a family and a backstory as a treat., Lazzo just really needs a hug, Mostly Lazzo's POV with some extras sprinkled in, Nines is actually a surprisingly good dad, Nines: No, Nines: There's only one thing worse than a rapist, Other, So I didn't have time to write until now, Trauma Recovery, we're getting into it now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28639686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CodebreakerAlexManes/pseuds/CodebreakerAlexManes
Summary: Gavin Reed is now the reluctant host to Lazzo Fratello, the cocky and annoying kid from the warehouses. Charged with keeping him safe in the witness protection program, Gavin and his partner (boyfriend?) Nines team-up to take care of him. Unfortunately, it's turning out to be more than they bargained for, and the two have to team up to save their kid.
Relationships: Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Upgraded Connor | RK900 & Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 17
Kudos: 17





	1. the one in which gavin and nines acquire a teenager

“Abso-fucking-lutely not,” is the first thing out of Gavin’s mouth when Fowler informs him of the situation about a week after Ada’s deviation. Nines sits next to him, one eyebrow quirked with a half-smile that makes Gavin want to punch him. 

“You’re our only option, Gavin, like it or not.” Fowler says, slamming the case file down onto the desk. Gavin knows Fowler is right; the man is right most of the time. He just doesn’t agree. 

“No.” Gavin says again. “Ask Anderson. Ask Chris. Anybody but me, please. I’ll do anything, man, please don’t stick him with me.” 

“Detective Reed,” Nines says in that stupidly smooth voice with a stupid smirk that makes Gavin want to kiss him. “As your partner, I will be helping you with this assignment. You would not be on your own.” 

Gavin pauses to consider this; more time with his partner (boyfriend?) under the guise of protecting a witness in an important DPD case. Not to mention, the witness is being released from the hospital because of an attempted hit and would likely be drugged and asleep. 

“Fine,” Gavin relents. “But if this kid says one thing that bothers me, or even blinks too loudly, I’m fucking dropping him off at your house.” He grabs the file from in front of Fowler and flips it open, staring at the name and the picture. 

Lazarus ‘Lazzo’ Fratello is what the witness’ name reads. The picture that stares back at him is considerably different than the Lazzo that Gavin and Nines had met; the one they’d met was a foolish and cocky teenager with the worst cover story Gavin had ever heard. 

The Lazzo in this picture looks scared, photographed from the side to show off several nasty lines of stitches and bandages. He looks nothing like the Lazzo that Gavin last saw. He looks a child, and a scared one at that. 

Nines takes the file from Gavin, his LED spinning slowly from blue to yellow to blue to yellow. 

“If that’s all, Captain?” Nines says, not looking up from the file. 

“That’s all,” Fowler says and Gavin swears the captain is giving him some cryptic look he can’t decipher. “You’re picking him up from the medical centre in thirty minutes. Anderson and Connor are there on guard duty.” 

“Motherfucker,” Gavin mutters, and that ends the discussion completely as he follows Nines out of the office. 

\- - - 

The drive to the medical centre is, thankfully, uneventful. 

“About time you two fucking got here,” Hank mutters as he steps out of the room that Lazzo’s been in for the past few days. “There’s nothing to do here. I was about to start shooting things. Might still shoot something. Don’t know.” 

“I would advise against that, Lieutenant.” Connor steps up next to Hank and exchanges a bit of conversation as Hank updates Gavin on Lazzo; the kid is drugged out of it and he’ll most likely be that way for a few weeks, some major injuries so he can’t move around much. Gavin tunes most of it out until Connor and Nines say goodbye and he’s being propelled into Lazzo’s room by hands on his shoulders. Nines laughs behind him, a low and calming sound. 

Lazzo doesn’t say anything when they enter the room, already changed into street clothes. There’s a small backpack next to him, and his knees are drawn up to his chest in what looks like an attempt to make himself small. 

“Hello,” Nines says from behind Gavin, his voice surprisingly kind. “I assume that the Lieutenant briefed you on the situation?” 

“Yeah,” Lazzo says in a voice that’s much different than the voice of the boy they ran into at the warehouse. “Look, I don’t want to be any trouble.” 

“Too late,” Gavin mutters at the same time Nines says “You’re not.” 

There’s a moment of silence where Lazzo looks away from them, pressing his cheek to his knees as Nines moves Gavin out of the way, gives him a stern glare, and then sits down on the very edge of the bed. 

“I understand this is probably very scary for you,” Nines says. “And I want you to know that I will personally make sure that you stay safe, okay?” He reaches out and places a hand on Lazzo’s knee, and Lazzo flinches away. Gavin frowns. He knows that reaction; he’s had that reaction before, and it looks wrong on Lazzo. 

“Sorry,” he mutters. “Don’t wanna be touched right now.” He scoots backwards and Nines nods understandingly.

“Look,” Gavin says, and Lazzo looks up at him. “I know we got off on the wrong foot, but right now, we have to work together, okay?” 

There’s a beat of silence where Nines gives Gavin an approving nod, and Lazzo exhales shakily. 

“Okay,” Lazzo says quietly. “Okay.” 

\- - - 

The car ride to Gavin’s house is quiet, Nines sitting in back with Lazzo. When he pulls into the driveway, he gets out with Nines, who goes around to the other side of the car and carefully unbuckles Lazzo, who’s fallen asleep in the backseat. 

Gavin grabs the kid’s backpack, noting how light it is, and follows Nines into the house. 

Nines sets Lazzo down on the couch, carefully kneeling to pull the boy’s sneakers off and then throw a blanket over him before standing and carefully pulling Gavin into the kitchen. 

Gavin sighs, wrapping his arms around Nines’ waist and pressing his face into his chest. Nines wraps his arms around him, humming softly. They stand like that for a few moments before Nines pulls away, starting up Gavin’s coffee maker. 

“So, we’re dating and we’ve acquired a teenager.” Nines says, and Gavin laughs, sitting down at the kitchen table. “Are we parents now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) leave kudos if you like it!  
> https://aurum-coloured-ink.tumblr.com/


	2. the one where lazzo makes a friend (or two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> listen it's kinda cute right now and i'm proud of this chapter. it's actually good, i think? i may add more to this chapter or just have two short chapters and some long ones.

When he starts to wake up, Lazzo notices several things are wrong. 

The first is that he’s comfortable, wrapped up in something warm and heavy that presses down on him comfortingly. The second is that is quiet, there’s no sounds of hospital machines or normal arguing of the apartment he normally crashes in. 

The third thing is the strange, warm weight on his chest. It presses against his ribs and hurts a bit, but the warmth is oddly soothing. 

When he blinks his eyes open, he find himself face-to-face with a Burmese cat, the cat blinking owlishly at him with large green eyes. He pulls a hand out from under the blanket, feeling sluggish as he carefully reaches out to lay a hand on the cat’s side. 

The sound of someone moving startles him, and he tries to sit up and throw the blanket off of himself. Thankfully, his body doesn’t fully respond and he ends up just throwing the blanket off and sliding down onto the carpet, where he lands in a pile with an ‘oof.’ 

“Hey,” a voice says, sounding amused as a face appears above him. It’s the detective android, Nines, and he’s smiling, his LED spinning a baby blue. “Do you remember where you are?”

It takes Lazzo a moment to form the words coherently in his brain and force them out. 

“Detective…” He stutters over the word, feeling foolish. “Detective Reed’s house.” The Burmese cat wiggles from under the blanket, stretching and jumping onto the arm of the couch, curling its tail and watching Lazzo with narrowed eyes. 

“Good,” the android hums in approval and moves to help Lazzo back up onto the couch like he’s some sort of child who can’t take care of himself. “It’s been a tough few days. How are you holding up?” 

Lazzo huffs as the android tucks the blanket around him, the cat resuming its post on Lazzo’s chest, purring and kneading the blanket with its claws. 

“I’m.” A wave of exhaustion crashes over him, and he closes his eyes, feeling the inky darkness of sleep pull him down. “Just gonna go back to bed.” Lazzo can hear himself slurring his words, but doesn’t have the energy to fix it. “Goodnight.” 

The last thing he hears is the cat purring on his chest, a warm and comforting weight.

\- - - 

When he wakes up again, two voices are talking softly. He opens his eyes slowly, and he’s pretty sure from the ache in his ribs and all over his body he’s late taking whatever stupid medications the doctors want shoved down his throat. 

“Look who it is!” One of the voices says. The loud voice startles him and he winces, a memory of another loud voice echoing in the back of his head. “Sleeping Beauty graces us with his presence.” 

Lazzo sits up slowly, leaning into the side of the couch as Nines slaps Gavin upside the head, scolding him. The cat is still snuggled in his lap, and when Lazzo looks down at it, it purrs and stands to rub its cheek against Lazzo’s. 

“I’m glad you’re awake,” Nines says, setting a mug of something on the coffee table. “You’ve been asleep for six hours and Gavin was going to have to wake you up. You need to eat something.” 

“God, you’re such a mom,” Gavin huffs, dropping into the armchair to the left of the couch. “How long are you gonna be drugged up for?” He turns to look at Lazzo with a heavily unimpressed look. 

“I don’t know.” Lazzo says, concentrating on forming the words as he carefully picks the mug up and sips the liquid inside. It’s some sort of sweet tea, and he hums softly at the warmth. 

“What happened to you, by the way?” Gavin asks, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table and smiling as the cat hops from Lazzo’s lap into his, digging its claws into his jacket and making noise. 

At the question, the mug slips in his fingers but he rights it before it can spill. He doesn’t remember much; the doctor said it would come back to him in bits and pieces. 

“I don’t know.” Is what he settles for. Gavin rolls his eyes, but thankfully doesn’t ask anymore when Nines returns with the medication from the hospital. He has to help Lazzo take it, and he feels like a child.

Gavin makes small talk as Nines helps him eat something and then change into comfier clothes. It’s strangely comforting for the time being, but he knows as soon as he’s able, he has to get out of here. 

When he’s tucked back in on the couch, the cat hops back onto his chest, and he laughs when a second cat appears from the kitchen and joins the Burmese, this one a tabby cat with frosty blue eyes. 

The last thought his mind forms before he sinks into darkness is if he can possibly steal the cats to bring with him. 


	3. the one where you, the reader, sort of get to learn what happened but gavin doesn’t

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> suprise, reader, bet you thought i was dead. i am not. 
> 
> CW: mentions of being chased, PTSD (we love ptsd, man), drowning/mentions of blood. also there's a church but like, i see no god here but me so
> 
> pls leave me comments

Lazzo is cold. 

He’s walking down the street, and it’s cold, but he can’t stop moving. If he stops, something bad is going to happen, and he doesn’t know what. 

He sees his first destination: a church. The people following him wouldn’t follow him in there, and he’ll only stay there for a few moments until they give up for the time being and he can run to the apartment he stays in and grab the money from under his mattress and- 

He nearly walks into the door of the church, blindly feeling for a door handle and then wrenching the door open, stepping into the warmth. It takes his eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light, and when he can see, he drops into the nearest pew and exhales. 

For the moment, he’s safe.

And then the door of the church opens and Lazzo is on his feet in seconds as he recognizes the voices, and he’s running for an emergency door he sees behind the alter and then he’s back outside in the cold and suddenly there’s a voice calling his name, and someone is shaking him- 

“C’mon, kid, wake up,” a rough voice cuts through the cold night and for a moment, Lazzo blinks his eyes open. Gavin is kneeling next to him, face tight with worry. “Keep your eyes open, okay? I don’t know what the hell your body is doing, but it’s not good.” 

Lazzo does the exact opposite, his eyes closing again. 

All of a sudden, he’s running again, feet pounding on the pavement as he runs through a park in Detroit’s city central, running past a group of teenagers gathered around a bonfire. A song echoes as they sing it, voices strong and full of laughter. 

_Stand on the box_

_Stomp your feet_

_Start clappin’_

_Got a real good feelin’ something bad about to happen_

That’s a sign if Lazzo ever heard it. He knows why this is happening to him; he knows when he agreed to talk to Nines and his partner he was marked as a rat. He knew, sooner or later, someone would realize he’d said something. And then, sooner or later, someone would mark him for death. 

He’s running across a stone bridge and he thinks he’ll make it and then someone grabs the bag on his back and jerks him to the ground, and then something hits him in the side and it feels like his ribs are on fire. 

Someone is kneeling on his stomach and someone else is tying rope around his wrists and then two people are lifting him up and he realizes too late what’s happening. 

And then he falls, plummeting like a rock until he hits the ice on top of the river, cracking it and falling through while the air is punched from his lungs and his whole body _burns_ white hot from the impact. 

The water is freezing, a paralyzing cold and he’s in so much pain he thinks for a moment he might be dead and then his body kicks into overdrive and he struggles with the rope. His shoulder is twisted unnaturally and he gasps, inhaling water as it pops and dislocates. 

He can’t breathe and his vision is blurring and he hurts so much and the thought of just going to sleep sounds so good- 

There’s another crash from above him and someone is grabbing at his backpack, pulling it off of him and pulling him upwards, but as far as he’s concerned, he’s dead weight. 

The edges of the ice drag painfully along his skin as other hands join whoever jumped in the water to grab him and haul him out of the water; he can vaguely register voices and when he opens his eyes, there’s someone with drenched neon green hair and bloody hands shaking his shoulders. 

That’s the last thing he remembers before he slips into darkness. 

\- - - 

He wakes up in someone’s arms and realizes that Detective Reed is cradling him. 

“What happened?” He asks when his brain slows back down to the snail’s crawl it’s been the past few days. 

“Flashback.” is all Gavin says, and Lazzo doesn’t miss the way his fingers tighten slightly against the jacket Lazzo wears. “Congratulations and welcome to the PTSD club, kid. It’s a lifetime membership and if you’re lucky, you might upgrade to a nightly visit.” 

There’s a sour note in the detective’s voice, and this time it doesn’t seem to be aimed at him so Lazzo says nothing. 

“Are you okay?” Gavin asks, sounding awkward and unsure. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

“No.” Lazzo says after a moment, feeling like he can’t breathe. Gavin just nods and settles back into the couch. 

He starts talking, and for a moment Lazzo doesn’t understand why. He realizes after a moment that the detective is offering him a distraction, talking softly in a calm voice about work and someone named Lieutenant Anderson and his android partner named Connor who, in Gavin’s opinion, is a baby android and an idiot. 

He talks about his cats, talks about Nines, talks about all sorts of things until Lazzo’s body relaxes his and his breathing steadies out. 

It’s comforting in an odd way, and he finds he doesn’t mind falling asleep because oddly enough, he feels safe.


End file.
